Fantasy: I'm in a discarded alchemy room, but I can turn trash into treasure!

Qin Mo, dressed in a moon-white monastic robe, stood in front of the spirit examination hall.

Tall and slender with sharp features and a flowing aura of spiritual energy, he truly resembled an inner disciple.

"She's not bad looking..."

"It's a pity it's a mixed spiritual root."

The inner sect senior sisters who gathered around him whispered among themselves, their eyes scanning him up and down.

"Is he the handyman that the sect leader exceptionally recruited into the inner sect?"

A female disciple in a blue skirt whispered to her companion.

Xu Qingqing arrived at this time as well.

She landed three steps away from Qin Mo, glanced at the crowd of onlookers, and frowned slightly.

"Junior Brother Qin, let's go, ignore these people."

"You're Qin Mo?"

The crowd suddenly parted to both sides, and a young man in a brocade robe walked out with his hands behind his back, his chin slightly raised, staring down at Qin Mo.

"How dare a piece of trash with mixed spiritual roots of all five elements step into the Spirit Examination Hall?"

Immediately afterward, another sarcastic voice rang out from behind.

"Senior Brother Fang Qing?"

Someone gasped in surprise.

Xu Qingqing's face darkened.

This Fang Qing is the legitimate son of a collateral branch of the Fang family. He is at the eighth level of Qi Refining and entered the inner sect half a year ago. He is used to acting arrogantly because of his family's power.

Although Uncle Gu had purged the Fang family's influence in the palace, the centipede was not dead yet, and there were still many spies hidden in the shadows.

Fang Qing squinted at Qin Mo, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

"I heard you rose to your position in the outer sect by beating up that good-for-nothing Ma Kun?"

"A level one Qi Refining cultivator fighting a level nine Qi Refining cultivator? Tsk, who would believe that?"

"I bet some senior sister secretly slipped you a life-saving charm."

"Shut up."

Xu Qingqing took a step to the side, her hand already on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

"Oh, is Junior Sister Xu being possessive of her food?"

Fang Qing took half a step back, his smile widening. "Is a mere handyman disciple worth you drawing your sword?"

"He is an inner disciple."

Xu Qingqing's voice turned cold. "The sect leader personally bestowed this title. If you utter another word, I will teach you a lesson on behalf of the Outer Enforcement Hall."

Fang Qing pursed her lips and didn't say anything more.

He never intended to confront Xu Qingqing directly.

The real show is yet to come.

Qin Mo didn't respond to a single word from Fang Qing from beginning to end.

He glanced at Xu Qingqing, nodded, and turned to step onto the stone steps of the spirit examination hall.

All the female inner disciples around looked over.

Many people's faces were filled with disdain.

What right does a good-for-nothing have to enter the inner sect?

They had to cultivate for years to earn their qualifications, and this person just took them with a sect leader's decree?

Qin Mo steadily climbed the steps and arrived at the entrance of the spirit examination hall.

The white-clad female disciple on duty blocked their way.

Qin Mo raised his hand and handed over the travel jade token.

"Enter."

The female disciple in white took the jade talisman, examined it briefly, and then stepped aside.

Thank you.

Qin Mo stepped through the gate.

……

In a low pavilion nestled among pine trees a hundred feet away from the examination hall, three figures stood side by side.

Gu Yingxue, Bai Chenshuang, Su Qingyi.

"Uncle-Master, do you really think there's something special about Qin Mo?"

Bai Chenshuang looked at Gu Yingxue.

Gu Yingxue took a sip of tea but did not answer immediately.

Su Qingyi stood to the side, her gaze fixed on the direction of the memorial hall, her face expressionless.

"Just watch."

Gu Yingxue put down her teacup, her tone calm, "After today, you will understand."

Bai Chenshuang and Su Qingyi exchanged a glance, each suppressing their doubts.

……

In the Spiritual Awakening Hall.

Qin Mo stepped into the palace and looked around.

The main hall is spacious, with stacked stone seats on both sides, and a huge black rock, three people tall, standing in the center of the open space.

The stone surface is covered with ancient patterns, its spiritual energy is restrained, and there is not a trace of light on its surface.

This is the Spirit Inquiry Stone of Yunyu Palace.

Qin Mo stared at it for a couple of breaths, and the scene from seven years ago when he was exposed to a mixed spiritual root by a spirit-testing stone at the outer mountain gate involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

That day, when Su Qingyi grasped the spirit-testing stone, golden light surged forth, and the world changed color.

When Qin Mo reached out and grasped it, the faces of everyone around him were filled with two words.

waste.

He was thrown into the alchemy room on the spot and served as a beast of burden for seven years.

"You're Qin Mo?"

A middle-aged man's voice interrupted his recollection.

Qin Mo looked in the direction of the sound.

Behind a table deep inside the main hall sat a square-faced middle-aged cultivator, with the insignia of the head of the Spirit Examination Hall embroidered on his chest.

Fang Tao.

"State your name and show your badge."

Fang Tao crossed his legs, not even bothering to glance at him.

Qin Mo took off his waist tag and handed it over.

Fang Tao flipped the waist token twice and chuckled.

"Qi Refining Level 5, Mixed Five Elements Spiritual Root, Low Grade."

He tossed the token back onto the table. "What's the difference between testing this kind of spiritual root and not testing it at all? It's a waste of the spiritual energy from the spirit stones."

The large group of inner sect female disciples who surged in from behind immediately burst into laughter.

Xu Qingqing followed closely behind and walked in. Upon hearing these words, her face turned ashen.

"Fang Tao, as the supervisor of spirit verification, your duty is to verify spirits, not to publicly humiliate your fellow disciples here."

"Senior Sister Xu is right."

Fang Tao stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and his smile remained unchanged.

He walked around from behind the table to the Spirit Inquiry Stone, and suddenly turned to look at Qin Mo.

"Junior Brother Qin, I'd like to make a bet with you."

The hall suddenly became quiet.

"If you go up and take the test, and it turns out you don't have a mixed spiritual root of the five elements..."

Fang Tao took out a brocade pouch from his sleeve and slammed it on the table. "Ten high-grade spirit stones inside are yours."

"Ten high-grade spirit stones?"

An uproar erupted inside the hall.

Everyone stared at the brocade bag.

Ten high-grade spirit stones are something an ordinary inner disciple couldn't save up for a year.

Fang Tao then took out a jade bottle from his pocket. The bottle was smooth and lustrous, and a faint fragrance of pills wafted out. "I'll also give you this Foundation Establishment Pill."

"Foundation Pill!"

A collective gasp swept through the area.

Xu Qingqing's gaze sharpened as she looked at Fang Tao.

Where did this guy get the Foundation Establishment Pill?

Who is standing behind them?

"Fang Tao, what do you mean?"

Xu Qingqing shouted.

"It doesn't mean anything."

Fang Tao shrugged. "I just think it's impossible for Junior Brother Qin to change his spiritual root."

"A mixed spiritual root of the five elements, and it's the lowest of the low. In the thousands of years of cultivation, no one has ever been heard of who could transform a mixed spiritual root."

He turned to look at Qin Mo, his smile particularly irritating.

"Junior Brother Qin, if you really have the ability to change your spiritual root, this Foundation Establishment Pill and ten high-grade spirit stones are all yours."

"But if I win..."

"The Foundation Establishment Pill and ten high-grade spirit stones are still yours, but you must leave the inner sect."

"No matter what, you won't lose out."

"If you don't have the guts, you can turn around and leave now. Everyone understands anyway."

The female disciples inside the hall looked at each other, many with smiles on their faces, waiting to see Qin Mo make a fool of himself.

Xu Qingqing gripped the sword hilt tightly, almost drawing her sword.

"Senior Sister Xu."

Qin Mo suddenly spoke up.

Xu Qing was taken aback and looked at him.

Qin Mo didn't look at Fang Tao; his gaze was unusually calm.

"Get out of the way."

He stepped toward the Spirit Inquiry Stone.

Fang Tao's lips curled up, and he crossed his arms, leaning against the pillar.

The hall was completely silent.

Xu Qingqing stared at Qin Mo's back, her palms sweating profusely.

She knew that Qin Mo had the Pill King backing him up, but spiritual roots are something that are innate.

If the test really comes out, it's still a mixed spiritual root. The embarrassment I've suffered today will spread throughout the entire Cloud Rain Palace.

Qin Mo walked up to the Spirit Inquiry Stone and stopped.

He looked down at his right hand.

The spiritual root, tempered by the Transformation Furnace, has transformed into a mid-grade five-element spiritual root after taking the Marrow Cleansing Pill last time.

But only he knew about this.

"What, you're scared now?"

Fang Tao spoke sarcastically behind him.

Qin Mo's lips twitched.

He raised his right palm and pressed it heavily onto the Spirit Inquiry Stone.